A screenshot of the conversation as captured from an image on Twitter / Twitter

by Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

by Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

A 14-year-old girl who sent a terroristic tweet to American Airlines has been arrested by authorities in the Netherlands, The Associated Press reports.

Police spokesman Roland Ekkers tells the news agency that the girl turned herself in to Rotterdam police in and is now being interrogated. The girl, who was not identified, was with a parent when she turned herself in.

Ekkers said the motive for the tweet is not yet known.

The incident began Sunday when a Twitter user thought to be a teenage girl sent a terrorism-themed message to American Airlines.

Initially, the incident brought the girl only unwanted notoriety as it spawned coverage from media outlets across the globe.

The girl - who identified herself as a 14-year-old named Sarah on her Twitter account - sent the following tweet to American Airlines' @americanair account Sunday morning:

"hello my name's Ibrahim and I'm from Afghanistan. I'm part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I'm gonna do something really big bye."

American responded, saying: "Sarah, we take these threats very seriously. Your IP address and details will be forwarded to security and the FBI."

That appeared to startle the girl, who responded mostly - but not entirely - with conciliatory tweets, according to London's Mirror tabloid, which runs a long list of the exchange on Twitter.

"I'm so stupid, I'm scared," said one of the first replies from @QueenDemetriax_, the handle the girl had on her account when she sent the tweet. The girl has since switched her Twitter handle to @bizzledemetriax.

"I was joking and it was my friend not me, take her IP address not mine," the girl tweeted, according to the Daily News of New York.

She claimed to be a girl living in the Netherlands, adding: "I'm just a fangirl pls I don't have evil thoughts and plus I'm a white girl," according to the Daily News.

The Daily News notes "the Twitterverse soon filled with posters who took up Sarah's pleas for leniency, laughed at her foolishness or speculated the whole thing was a hoax."

Still, the girl occasionally interrupted her contrite tweets with updates on her growing number of followers.

And, as for American's threat to forward the girl's information to the FBI, the girl tweeted she had "blocked the FBI just in case," according to WGHP TV of North Carolina.

American eventually removed its tweet that it first sent in reply to the girl.

"The safety of our passengers and crew is our number one priority. We take security matters very seriously and work with authorities on a case by case basis," the carrier said to The Huffington Post. "Regarding (the) tweet , we removed it after it had been addressed in order to be able to focus on our customers."

Speaking to the Daily News, the FBI declined to say if it was looking into the matter.

Regardless, the incident appears to have spawned at least one copy-cat tweet. It's unclear what authorities will do in regard to that tweet, which was directed at Southwest Airlines. That carrier responded to the threatening tweet in a similar fashion to American.